By Shayne Swenson
#saintpaisios #jesusislord #christislord #ilovejesus
Elder Paisios of Mount Athos by Elder Isaac Elder Paisios of Mount Athos (†1994) is perhaps the greatest and most revered Elder of the Orthodo
Kontakion 1 Let us believers with one voice all praise him who was sent by God in these times of trial for our comfort and guidance, Pai...
St. Paisios the Athonite (Feast Day - July 12) Verses Paisios, the tree of Mount Athos, You were shown to be full of fruit, most-venerable one. On the twelfth Paisios reposed. Life Synaxarion of Saint Paisios the Athonite Monk Paisios: A Contemporary Saint Who Captivated With His Virtue Saint Paisios the Athonite as a Model for our Lives Concerning the Book "Elder Paisios of Mount Athos" by Hieromonk Isaac (1 of 3) Concerning the Book "Elder Paisios of Mount Athos" by Hieromonk Isaac (2 of 3) Concerning the Book "Elder Paisios of Mount Athos" by Hieromonk Isaac (3 of 3) How the Books About Saint Paisios the Athonite From Souroti Were Written Little Known Incidents from the Life of Saint Paisios the Athonite in Konitsa The Baptismal Font of Elder Paisios the Athonite The House Where Saint Paisios Grew Up in Konitsa of Ioannina A Tour of the Childhood Home of St. Paisios the Athonite by his Niece (video) The Siblings of Elder Paisios (photos) A Poem Elder Paisios Wrote For His Mother Photograph of Saint Paisios the Athonite's Father, Prodromos Enzepides The Chapel of Saint Barbara in Konitsa and Elder Paisios Saint Paisios the Athonite and Some of His Military Hardships Panagia Stomiou Monastery in Konitsa and Elder Paisios Cats, Mice and Saint Paisios Saint Paisios and the Hermitage of Saints Galakteon and Episteme at Sinai Saint Paisios the Athonite at Saint Katherine Monastery in Sinai (Documentary) The First Monastic Cell of Saint Paisios the Athonite at Iveron Monastery Papa Nikodemos: Spiritual Father of Elder Paisios The Cell of the Honorable Cross of Papa Tychon and Elder Paisios Christmas With Papa Tychon A Unique Photo of St. Paisios the Athonite with the Russian Elder Papa Tychon The Prayer of Golgotha (Papa-Tychon the Athonite) The Last Days of Elder Tychon the Athonite: A Blessed Repose How Elder Paisios and Elder Polycarpos Met and Established Souroti Monastery Olet, the Beloved Bird of Elder Paisios A Wondrous Event In The Life of Elder Paisios The Appearance of the Panagia to Saint Paisios the Athonite on February 21, 1985 Popular Edited Photos of Saint Paisios with their Originals When Saint Paisios Evangelized Muslims in Pomakochoria in May of 1989 The Forty Day Fast of Saint Paisios the Athonite for the World The Experience of Saint Paisios the Athonite With the Uncreated Light The Note Saint Paisios the Athonite Would Leave Outside His Door When He Was Sick and Unable To See Visitors The Last Pascha of Elder Paisios in 1994 Elder Paisios' Last Day At the Hospital Rare Photo of the Reposed St. Paisios the Athonite Raphael Eznepidis, Brother of Elder Paisios, Has Reposed in the Lord Films, Recordings and Documentaries Saint Paisios the Athonite Chants the Paschal Hymn "Christ is Risen" Elder Paisios Film Draws Crowds in Russia (video) Elder Paisios - A Saint of Our Times (video) New Documentary On Elder Paisios the Athonite Documentary: The Way To Elder Paisios A Recording of St. Paisios the Athonite Chanting the Prayer of Jesus An Audio Lecture of Elder Paisios the Athonite (video) A Recording of Elder Paisios (video) "On the Personalities of Contemporary Charismatic Elders" (Metr. Athanasios of Limassol) Television Series on the Life of Saint Paisios the Athonite Begins Filming Trailer for the Television Series on the Life of Saint Paisios the Athonite "Saint Paisios - From Farasa to Heaven" (Links to the Nine Episodes of the First Season) Season One of the Greek Television Series on the Life of Saint Paisios the Athonite Now in English; Updates on Season Two Greek Television Series on the Life of Saint Paisios (Episodes 1 - 3) Greek Television Series on the Life of Saint Paisios (Episode 4) Greek Television Series on the Life of Saint Paisios (Episodes 5 and 6) Greek Television Series on the Life of Saint Paisios (Episode 7) Greek Television Series on the Life of Saint Paisios (Episode 8) Greek Television Series on the Life of Saint Paisios (Episode 9) Spiritual Counsels A Prayer of Saint Paisios the Athonite Elder Paisios on Finding the Way Leading to Jesus Christ Instructions to Get the Heart Receptive to Orthodoxy The Recipe of Salvation According to Elder Paisios Elder Paisios on Philotimo and Leventia The Parable of the Hound and the Hare (St. Paisios the Athonite) Like the Prodigal Son, We Must Come to our Senses (St. Paisios the Athonite) The Prodigal Wife and the Faithful Husband (St. Paisios the Athonite) "Friends Are Very Influential on Children" (St. Paisios the Athonite) Saint Paisios the Athonite Answers Various Objections of Those Who Prefer to Pray at Home Rather Than Go to Church Elder Paisios: Prayer Gives the Soul Security Believe In God, Not Yourself Evil and Inquiring Into God's Justice (Elder Paisios the Athonite) The Shocking Advice of Saint Paisios the Athonite to a Physician Elder Paisios and the Aroma of Reverence Stories on the Value of Simplicity by Elder Paisios the Athonite Hieromonk Anthimos the Fool for Christ (1 of 2) Hieromonk Anthimos the Fool for Christ (2 of 2) Saint Paisios the Athonite On How Abraham Used His Mind Properly "I Kiss His Name Many Times": Saint Paisios the Athonite's Reverence for Righteous Phinehas Elder Paisios: Ease of Life and Christianity Do Not Go Together Elder Paisios: "Compassion Harms the Unrepentant" Elder Paisios: Judgmentalism and the Spiritual Life Don't Go Together How A Christian Can Live in Society Without Being Scandalized Elder Paisios: The Wrongly Accused Are the Most Beloved Children of God The One Who Wrongs Us Is Our Benefactor (St. Paisios the Athonite) It Is Better To Bear Five Crosses Than One An Incident That Greatly Troubled Saint Paisios the Athonite "Saint Panteleimon Took the Hit" - St. Paisios the Athonite The Weary Ascetic Who Complained to Saint Panteleimon Saint Paisios on Praying for the Departed and Memorials The Best Memorial For the Deceased What Saint Paisios the Athonite Said About the Prophet Elijah The Reception of Elijah and Enoch in the End Times and False Prophets Life and Sayings of the Holy Abba Alonios Elder Paisios: Never Say "They Will Answer to God" Elder Paisios: On Forced and False Repentance The Orthodox Prosperity Gospel According to Elder Paisios the Athonite Elder Paisios On Those Called To Be Clergymen Advice of St. Paisios to Final Year Seminary Students An Encouraging Story From Elder Paisios The Priest Who Hung His Cassock on the Ray of the Sun The Lay Porter Who Resurrected A Dead Man The Decalogue: An Unknown Text of Saint Paisios "When I Put Wood In the Fire" (St. Paisios the Athonite) Demons, Delusions and Spiritual Warfare St. Paisios the Athonite on Demons and the Power of the Cross A Night of Entertainment With Elder Paisios Monastics Even Pray For Demons! Saint Paisios the Athonite on Sorcery Saint Paisios the Athonite on the Demonically Possessed On the Monk Who Pretended He Was Demon Possessed (St. Paisios the Athonite) The Demon and the Prayer Rope The Arrogant Hieromonk Who Thought He Could Command Demons Like Saint Parthenios Saint Paisios the Athonite on Spiritual Delusion Saint Paisios the Athonite on Deluders and the Deluded Saint Paisios the Athonite on the Toll Houses and Other Signs at Death What Some Modern Orthodox Elders and Saints Said About Extraterrestrial Life or Life on Other Planets Fear of the Antichrist Personal Encounters Some Personal Experiences From My Contact With Father Paisios (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos) Saint Paisios, a Prophet of our Times Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Remembers Elder Paisios Rare Video Showing an Embrace Between Saint Paisios and Patriarch Bartholomew Saint Paisios the Athonite and Father Paisios the Mathematician The Lessons I Learned From My Acquaintance With the Athonite Father Paisios The First Time I Heard of Elder Paisios What Proved to Me the Gospel of Christ Was True (Metr. Athanasios of Limassol) A Personal Encounter With Elder Paisios Elder Paisios in the Light of the Transfiguration "The Greatest and Most Wonderful Thing I Experienced with Saint Païsios" A Conversation With Saint Paisios on the Existence of the Invisible Naked Ascetics of Mount Athos Elder Paisios and the Pornographer Elder Paisios and the Alcoholic Monk Elder Paisios and the Hashish Addict Saint Paisios the Athonite and the Chemist When Panagiotis Nellas Was a Novice Under Saint Paisios The Author of the Book "The Gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios" Saint Paisios the Athonite and the Clairvoyant Eldress Eulambia Romanides Elder Gregory Papasotiriou Has Reposed How I Learned to Stop Worrying About the Future The Russian Monk Who Drank Tea and Vodka Daily with Saint Silouan the Athonite How a Sinner Came to Know Elder Paisios in Mount Athos Elder Paisios and Little Paisios Interview with an Actor Who Possesses the Cap of Saint Paisios the Athonite A 103 Year Old Woman Who Was Baptized by St. Arsenios and is Related to St. Paisios George Blatzas, the Doctor of Saint Paisios, Has Reposed Miracles When the Mother of God Sent Aid to Saint Paisios the Athonite The Gift of Tongues is Repeated in the Lives of the Saints Till This Day (Metr. Athanasios of Limassol) Saint Paisios the Athonite and the Japanese Buddhist Saint Paisios the Athonite and the Airline Ticket of St. Maximos of Kavsokalyva St. Paisios the Athonite and the Monk Who Prayed For Stalin Saint Paisios and the Soul of Old Thanasis The Keys of Saint Paisios the Athonite Elder Paisios, the Apostle Andrew and the Earthquake that Shook Patras Testimony of a Miraculous Rescue by St. Paisios the Athonite in America When Saint Paisios the Athonite Spoke With the Rotten Corpse of a Tormented Old Woman Saint Paisios the Athonite and his Obedient Frog Saint Paisios the Athonite and the Deer (an unpublished story) Two Posthumous Miracles of Saint Paisios the Athonite Select Miracles of Elder Paisios the Athonite (video) Two Recent Miracles of Saint Paisios the Athonite in Eastern Congo Two Videos of Icons of Saint Paisios the Athonite Streaming Myrrh An Atheist at the Grave of Saint Paisios Theological Issues When Elder Paisios Smacked a Theology Student Is Divine Eros the Love for God? Elder Paisios: "The Church is Like a Ship" The Difference Between Reason and the Nous According to Saint Paisios the Athonite "This Is How My Thoughts Perceive Judgment Will Take Place" (St. Paisios the Athonite) "Glorify the Name of God Through Science" (St. Paisios the Athonite) St. Paisios the Athonite on Confronting Difficult Ecclesiastical Issues The Spiritual Twilight of the West The Globalized and the Universal Person: On the Sacred Memory of Saint Paisios On Feasts and Saints Elder Paisios on How to Deepen our Experience of the Feasts of the Church Elder Paisios the Athonite on Christmas On the Death of Children and the Slaughter of the Innocents (St. Paisios the Athonite) "From the Moment the Triodion Begins, One Must Begin to Journey Towards Golgotha" (St. Paisios the Athonite) Elder Paisios on the Arena of Great Lent Elder Paisios and the Boiled Milk During Lent Saint Paisios the Athonite on the Joy of the Annunciation The Last Two Days of Holy Week With Saint Paisios the Athonite Elder Paisios on the Joy of the Resurrection Approaching the Panagia on a Daily Basis According to Saint Paisios A Paschal Greeting To Elder Paisios From the Panagia Elder Paisios' Favorite Icon of the Panagia The Story of Saint Paisios' Book About Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian The Story Behind the Biography of St. Arsenios Written by St. Paisios Saint Arsenios of Cappadocia Resource Page When Saint John the Baptist Appeared to Saint Paisios the Athonite Saint Euphemia's Conversation With Elder Paisios More on the Relationship Between Elder Paisios and Saint Euphemia The Encounter Between Elder Paisios and St. Euphemia in Images Saint Loukilianos and His Appearance to Elder Paisios in 1979 When St. Panteleimon Appeared to St. Paisios the Athonite (The Athonite Skete of Saint Panteleimon) Newly-Revealed Hieromartyr Vlasios of Sklavaina The Feast Day of St. Isaac the Syrian on September 28th Synaxarion of Saint Isaac the Syrian Elder Paisios' Reverence for Saint Barbara Saint Nicholas and the Dried Up Well St. Paisios on a Miracle of St. Nicholas in the Village of Konitsa Elder Paisios on the Incorrupt Relics of St. Spyridon Saint Spyridon Caters For His Feast "What Would Saint Basil the Great Do if He Lived in our Era?" (St. Paisios the Athonite) Saint Paisios the Athonite on the Spirit of Sacrifice of Saints Boniface and Aglaia Elder Paisios, When Sick, Was Attended To By Angels and Saints For A Week The Miraculous Liberation of the Holy Mountain of Athos from the Turks in 1830 Elder Porphyrios' Meeting With Elder Paisios An Invitation From The Pope To Elders Paisios and Porphyrios Elder Porphyrios' Esteem For Elders Iakovos of Evia and Paisios the Athonite What St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva and St. Paisios the Athonite Said About Each Other Do Figures Like Elders Paisios and Porphyrios Exist Today? The Obedience of Elder Cleopa Ilia to Elder Paisios When Saint Bessarion of Agathonos Met Saint Paisios the Athonite The Repose of Archimandrite Gabriel Tsafos, the Elder of Joy (+ 2018) Saint Kallinikos of Edessa and His Acquaintance With Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos and Saint Paisios the Athonite Heresies, Religiosity, Controversial Issues, Prophecies "Many Have Taken Advantage of the Name of Saint Paisios" (Metr. Joel of Edessa) Saint Paisios and the Young Man With Protestant Leanings Elder Paisios on the Delusions of Pentecostalism Elder Paisios on the Rise of Islam in France Elder Paisios on Atheist Politicians A Plan of St. Paisios the Athonite to Repeal the Abortion Law in Greece Elder Paisios on Global Warming and the Environmental Crisis Elder Paisios: On Darwinian and Theistic Evolution A Response to the Teaching of Saint Paisios on Evolution Why St. Paisios the Athonite Was Not a Nationalist, a Homophobe or a Misogynist Elder Paisios on Religion and Societal Problems The People of Old and the People of Today On Cremation of the Dead (St. Paisios the Athonite) St. Paisios the Athonite on Confronting Difficult Ecclesiastical Issues The Problem of Religiosity in Orthodoxy Elder Paisios the Athonite on the Old Calendarist Zealots Saint Paisios, Saint Porphyrios and the "Zealots" of Kavsokalyva Elder Paisios: "A Christian Must Not Be Fanatical" Saint Paisios and Contemporary "Paisioses" The Boundaries Between Faith and Religious Charlatinism Mischievous Designs and Problematic Personalities The Truth About the "Lucky Bread" of Elder Paisios Saint Paisios the Athonite and his Devotees Being Mocked and Ridiculed Over a Chestnut Schismatic Blasphemies Regarding the "Deluded" Paisios and "Magician" Porphyrios Why Is Elder Paisios Mocked? Monk Moses the Athonite on Contemporary Elders False Rumors of Apocalyptic Visions and Elder Paisios The Holy Community of Mount Athos Responds to the Alleged Appearance of Elder Paisios Saint Paisios the Athonite and the Prepper A Question Regarding the So-Called "Prophecies" of Holy Elders Controversial End Time Prophecies By Holy Elders The Prophetic Elder Paisios and the Misuse of His Words God Allows Even Holy Elders To Have Blind Spots The Antichrist and 666 Was Not the Primary Message of Elder Paisios Greeks Seek Strength in Predictions of Elder Paisios Caution Regarding the "Prophecies" of Elder Paisios An Eternal Perspective On Circulating "Prophecies" What a Spiritual Father from Sinai Says About the "Prophecies" of St. Paisios Canonization, Commemoration and Churches The Sainthood of the Venerable Elder Paisios New Saints: Contemporary Treasures of the Church Hundreds Venerate the Tomb of Elder Paisios 120,000 Pilgrims Visit the Grave of Elder Paisios on the 20th Anniversary of His Repose Patriarch Bartholomew On Contemporary Holy Elders Patriarch Bartholomew Refers To "Leading Contemporary Figures of Orthodoxy" The Value of Contemporary Elders Upcoming Canonizations of Orthodox Elders Elder Paisios is Officially Canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate The Proposal of Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos for the Canonization of Saint Paisios the Athonite The Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the Canonization of Elder Paisios The Sacred Services and Hymns for Saint Paisios the Athonite The Apolytikion (Dismissal Hymn) to St. Paisios the Athonite Has Been Revised The Service of Great Vespers for St. Paisios the Athonite (July 12th) The Service of Matins for St. Paisios the Athonite (July 12) A Chapel Dedicated to Elder Paisios in Alexandroupolis A Church Dedicated to St. Arsenios of Cappadocia and St. Paisios the Athonite in Cyprus A Chapel in Patras is Dedicated to the Newly-Glorified Saint Paisios A Fresco of Elder Paisios Talking With Pilgrims in Beroia New Church Dedicated to St. Paisios the Athonite Consecrated in Syria The First Greek Parish Dedicated to Saint Paisios the Athonite A Chapel Dedicated to Saint Paisios the Athonite Built Inside a 300 Year Old Tree A Church to Saint Paisios the Athonite Being Built by Elder Euthymios in Kapsala of Mount Athos Greek Chapel Dedicated to the New Saints Paisios, Porphyrios and Iakovos Built Near Turkish Border Saint Paisios the Athonite Proclaimed the Patron Saint of the Military Corps of Signalmen Saint Paisios the Athonite as the Patron Saint of the Signals Corps of the Greek and Cypriot Armies A Chapel to Saint Paisios the Athonite Where He Served in the Greek Army The Festival of Saint Paisios the Athonite in Santorini Saint Paisios as an Orthodox Romios Saint Paisios in the Youth Culture of Greece (photos + video) Actress Juliette Binoche Acclaims Saint Paisios the Athonite and Byzantine Iconography In Award Speech
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By John Sanidopoulos In ancient Greece, two virtues were particularly philosophized about and discussed for their unique value, and were summed up as "kalos k' agathos" or "beautiful and good". These were two internal characteristics that extended towards all their external ways of life. The singular balance of beautiful and good made up a man who was both healthy in soul and body, in other words, an Athenian gentleman who was a perfect and ideal man. Though all cultures, to a certain extent, possess their own set of virtues that are unique, it is commonly held that modern Greeks are especially abundant in two virtues that are almost untranslatable in the English language, yet bear a certain resemblance on a deeper level to the virtues of the ancient Greeks. These two virtues are Philotimo and Leventia. Whereas in ancient times more emphasis was placed on external beauty as a sign of virtue, Christianity helped the Greek people de-emphasize the external factor of personal beauty for a deeper internal love of beauty within one's soul. It removed a more "selfish" characteristic and emphasized instead, in imitation of Christ, a certain "selflessness" that places the welfare of others above that of one's self. Such self-sacrifice bordered on a particular form of martyrdom that was deemed heroic, noble and full of integrity. These are the characteristics of a person who possesses philotimo. It is a person who is filled with love, humility and hospitality. The Greeks are also a suffering people who have had much acquaintance with being oppressed, especially in recent times under the Ottoman Turks. These times called for a special courageousness to behave bravely and with honor to overcome oppression. Even in the midst of hardships and humiliation, one was expected to develop an internal form of excellence that would not show one as ever defeated, but always show one victorious even in the midst of apparent defeat. This is best exemplified once again with self-sacrifice on behalf of others. These are the characteristics of leventia. In his appeals to the Greek people who would visit him, Elder Paisios would invoke these two virtues in order to reach their "collective unconscious". It has been said that if you want to encourage Greek men to agree with you and bring them higher to a more lofty ideal, you have to appeal to their philotimo. Furthermore, if you want to give Greek men encouragement to fight for what is right and true, then you would appeal to their leventia. Though leventia is more commonly applied to young men, in truth it could apply to all men. Typicially when a child or teenager displays characteristics of being a leventis, he is called a palikari to show that he is in the preliminary stages of being a leventis through his determination in displaying a good and manly heart. Elder Paisios was absolutely correct when he once said that "Greeks may have a pile of faults, but they also have a gift from God, philotimo and leventia; they celebrate everything. Other peoples do not even have these words in their dictionaries." Philotimo, according to Elder Paisios, means "the reverent distillation of goodness; the radiant love of the humble man bereft of himself, but with a heart full of gratitude to God and his fellow man; because of his spiritual sensitivity he tries to repay even the slightest good that others do to him." Leventia means courage, honesty, generosity of heart, directness, manliness and in general the willingness to lay down ones life for others. Here are just a few ways Elder Paisios used the term philotimo to appeal to his listeners: - "Those who have philotimo, because they move within the heavenly sphere of doxology, joyfully accept their trials as well as their blessings, and glorify God for them. Thus, they are continuously receiving God’s blessing from everything and are melting internally out of gratitude towards God, which they express in every spiritual way possible, like children of God." - "Unfortunately, in our day, words and books have multiplied and experiences have diminished, because the worldly spirit, which pursues all conveniences and avoids all bodily effort, influences people. Most of us find rest in much reading but little or no implementation. We simply marvel at the holy athletes of our Church without realizing how much they’ve labored, for we have not toiled so as to be able to understand their toil, to love them and to struggle out of philotimo in order to imitate them." - "Those, however, who struggle with philotimo and do not give themselves rest, removing their egos from every one of their actions, help very positively. For only then are the souls in need of help given rest, and only then will their own souls find inner rest, in this life as well as in eternity." - "When one realizes one's sinfulness and the great mercy of God, the heart cracks, as hard as it may be, and real tears fall of themselves and then man prays and weeps without effort. This is because humility works continuously together with philotimo and drills on the heart so that the springs increase, and the hand of God continually strokes the hard-working and philotimo child." Read also: Philotimo: Greece's Most Valuable Commodity
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After Metropolitan Seraphim of Kastoria co-celebrated the all-night patriarchal vigil and Divine Liturgy at the Convent of Saint John the Theologian in Souroti today, where the grave of St. Paisios is located and his first feast was celebrated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, among other Hierarchs and Clergymen, he returned to his own Metropolis, to the Church of Saint Nikanor the Wonderworker, where Saint Paisios was also celebrated with a procession, and offered a message to the faithful titled: "An Orthodox Romios: Characteristic Features of Saint Paisios". His message to the Greek people in these critical times can be summarized as follows: An Orthodox Romios* is: - someone who believes in God, - someone who has trust in God, - someone who begins their day glorifying God and concludes it by offering thanksgiving to God, - someone who has philotimo in their life. These four characteristic features of Saint Paisios are absent today from all of us, which is why we are in a terrible predicament. Saint Paisios offers us one message: We must have in our lives faith in God, trust in God, love for God and people, and philotimo. * A Romios is a Christian whose spiritual roots are connected with the Orthodox citizens of the Roman/Byzantine Empire. Below are photos from the celebration of St. Paisios by the Church of Saint Nikanor the Wonderworker:
In the summer of 1975, I was blessed with going for the first time to the Garden of the Mother of God, Mount Athos (Agion Oros). I visited various age-long monasteries; I paid my respects to many of the priceless treasures of the Holy place, that is, holy remnants of martyrs and saints of our fa
Рукописная икона святого Паисия Святогорца. Иконописная мастерская Хайрете (С.Петербург).
Elder Paisios, then known as Arsenios, in the army The soul must be constantly ready and alert and always in contact with the spiritual headquarters, that is, God. Only then it will feel secure, full of hope and joy. When I was in the army, during the war, I was a radio operator. I noticed that we felt secure only when we communicated with the Army Division on an hourly basis. When our communication was limited to every two hours, we felt a little bit insecure; sometimes, when we could only be in touch with them twice a day, we felt uncomfortable, lonely and lost. The same thing applies to our prayer. The more we pray, the more secure we feel, on a spiritual basis, of course. From Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, by Priestmonk Christodoulos (1998).
St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain (+ July 12th, 1994), right, depicted with his spiritual forefather, St. Arsenios of Cappadocia (+ Nove...
Once a reclusive ascetic, who had heard a lot about Elder Paisios, came to visit him. They talked for a while, and he ascertained that Elder Paisios was an exceptionally reverent man. Indeed, the elder had a rare reverence, which he had learned from his parents, and mainly his mother. While at the monastery, he benefited from many of the fathers, and especially from a particular hieromonk. He would say, “We can't reach the reverence he had—impossible. He would celebrate liturgy every day, and he struggled greatly. Once, for half a year, he ate nothing but half of a small prosphoron and a few tomatoes dried in the sun.” When he would serve out in the chapels, this reverent priest, like other priests of the monastery, preferred to have as a chanter the young Father Averkios (as the elder was then called). The elder had an innate reverence, but he also cultivated it a great deal. He placed such emphasis on it that he once said that “reverence is the greatest virtue, because it attracts the grace of God.” To the elder, reverence was the fear of God and spiritual sensitivity. Reverent people behave carefully and modestly, because they intensely feel the presence of God. The elder wanted reverence to be unaffected and internal. He turned away from mere external forms. Regarding a group of monks who had great order and discipline in their liturgical life, he commented, “I respect that, if it’s something that comes from within.” The elder’s conduct was reverent, but with a freedom that was alien to dry forms. If he didn’t feel something, he wouldn’t do it. He distinguished reverence from piety — a word he even avoided saying. He would say that reverence is like incense, while piety is just perfume.56 The elder’s reverence encompassed not only small and seemingly unimportant matters, but also spiritual and essential issues. “If someone neglects the little things,” he taught, “the danger is that he’ll start neglecting greater, holier things. And then, without realizing it, rationalizing it all to himself— ‘This is nothing, that doesn’t matter’ — he can end up, God forbid, totally neglecting the things of God and becoming irreverent, arrogant, and atheistic.” His reverence could be seen in the way he prayed, venerated icons, received antidoron and holy water, partook of Holy Communion, held icons during processions, chanted, and arranged and beautified the small chapel of his hermitage. He paid attention to details, but in a way that wasn’t ritualistic or fastidiously formal. This was his own attitude toward God, which wasn’t laid out in advance by any typikon of the Church: it was his personal disposition. He felt that his whole hermitage, not just his chapel, was sacred space. He arranged his cell, where he prayed, just like a little church. There was an iconostasis with many icons and a lamp that burned continuously, and he would cense and light many candles there. He had constructed his bed so that it was like a coffin, and he would say, “This is the altar of my cell.” Icons and holy books never touched his bed, with the exception of an icon at its head. The icon was rather tattered and faded, and a brother once asked him why it was in this condition. The elder tried to hide the truth, but the monk finally realized that it was like that because of his many kisses and tears. The elder reluctantly admitted, “I can get through an entire vigil that way”; that is, weeping. He also treated the other areas of his hermitage with reverence — the workshop where he made the little icons, the guest-house where souls were reborn by God’s grace, the balcony, and even the yard. He thought that it was irreverent to have a toilet inside the hermitage. It was partly for ascetic reasons that he kept it at such a distance, but mostly it was out of reverence. Once when he was away from the hermitage of the Holy Cross, the fathers of the monastery (out of love, so he wouldn’t be uncomfortable) made him a small outhouse, outside but sharing a wall with the hermitage. The elder never used it. At Panagouda, when his health had deteriorated toward the end of his life and he needed to go out frequently at night —in cold, rain, and snow —his spiritual children began to insist on building him an outhouse just clear of the balcony to make things easier for him. He refused. “That’s where the Panagia appeared,” he said. “How can I go to the toilet there?” The elder’s life was fragrant with deep and unaffected reverence, just as the angels in heaven worship God day and night “with great reverence.” This was clear to see from his relationship with God and from the expressions on his face when coming into contact with sacred things. He reacted to sacred objects as though they were alive. Once, when Elder Paisios was visiting the hermitage of another monk, his hernia was bothering him. The elder of the hermitage begged him to lie down and rest a little, but Elder Paisios declined. He was only able to lie on his left side, and, if he had done that there, his feet would have been pointing at some icons, which he thought of as irreverent. Before entering the holy altar, he would make a prostration to the floor, remove his monastic cap, and kiss the cross on the altar-curtain; and then he would enter by the side door. During the Communion hymn at liturgy, if he intended to commune, he would make full prostrations. For a time, he had it as a rule to eat nothing for thirty-three hours before communing. Because of his great reverence for the mystery of the priesthood, the elder never assented to ordination, even though, as he once said, “It’s been revealed to me three different times that I could become a priest.”57 Plainly, the elder saw reverence as a fundamental virtue for every Christian — although, rigorous as his criteria were, he considered it something rare. To the elder, reverence was greater than most of the other virtues. He often used it as a criterion. If a reverent person wrote or said or did something for which he was criticized, the elder, even before forming a clear opinion on the issue itself, would go out of his way to propose mitigating circumstances. He would say, “He’s a reverent man —I don’t believe he’d do something like that.” The elder believed that this quality preserved a person from making errors, from deceptions and from falling —perhaps in the sense of the verse declaring that the Lord “will carefully guard the way of those who reverence Him.”58 The elder considered reverence to be extremely important in all of a Christian’s life and struggles, and especially those of a monk. A person’s reverence, he believed, acts as a steady factor in his life, affecting everything and raising his spiritual level. He advised monks to take care to acquire reverence. “A new monk, especially, has to be reverent through and through. It helps for him to always have the Evergetinos open59 and to spend time with other monks who are reverent.” When a new monk asked the elder what it was that he should pay the most attention to, the elder replied, “Reverence and attention to yourself.” A Russian bishop, presented with many candidates for the priesthood, once asked the elder whom he should ordain. “Those who are reverent and pure,” the elder answered —he did not say educated or energetic men, or candidates with good voices. In chanting and iconography also, reverence was more important to the elder than technique. He was able to discern its presence in chanting or in an icon, and he would say, “If you pay attention to the meaning of a troparion, it’ll change you, and you’ll be able to chant in a reverent way. If you’re reverent, you might make a mistake while you chant, but it’ll come out sounding sweet. If you only pay attention to technique — I mean, going note-by-note, without a reverent spirit —then you’ll end up like a lay chanter I once heard: he was chanting ‘Bless the Lord, Ο my soul’ like a blacksmith striking an anvil. I heard it in a car, and it disturbed me — I told the driver to turn off the tape. When someone doesn’t chant from the heart, it’s like he’s running you out of church. A sacred canon says that people who chant with improper voices should be given penances because they drive people away from church.” Concerning iconography, he advised, “You should make an icon with reverence, like we were going to be giving it to Christ Himself. How would we like it if someone gave us a photograph where our face wasn’t right? It’s not right for the Panagia to be depicted like Saint Anna —I mean, not to show her physical beauty. There has never been a woman as beautiful as the Panagia was in soul and body. How she transformed people’s souls with her grace!” Of the icon of the Tenderly Kissing Mother of God, at Philotheou Monastery, he remarked, “technically, it’s not quite perfect, because Christ’s feet are wedge-shaped, but it works miracles and has such grace and sweetness. It’s probably because God rewarded the iconographer’s reverence.” “The grace of God,” observed the elder, “comes to reverent people, and it makes the soul beautiful.” But he observed with sadness that contemporary people pay little attention to such things. “If a person’s not reverent,” he said. “If he scorns divine things, then divine grace abandons him. and he’s overcome by temptations, and becomes like the demons. Divine grace won’t come to an irreverent person — it comes to people who honor it.” As examples of irreverence, he mentioned the sacrifice of Cain and the behavior of the sons of Eli related in the Old Testament. Their disdain provoked the wrath of God, and they were punished. The elder considered it irreverent to place icons, ecclesiastical books, antidoron, and holy objects in general on the seats of church-stalls, and even more so on chairs or beds (except on a pillow). He suggested that people put the little icons that he would hand out in their chest pockets. Once, he related, a pilgrim came holding his head crooked from neck pain. Through divine enlightenment, the elder realized that the man had suffered this at the hands of demonic powers, because he had put a cross the elder had given him, which contained a piece of the Precious Cross of the Lord, in his back-pocket. The elder forbade anyone who lived carelessly to carry the Precious Cross. He once told us about someone who had become possessed because he had spit in an unclean place on a day when he had communed. The same had happened to a woman who had thrown holy water onto excrement. Another time, he related, a young man who was engaged to be married visited a conjurer, who told him to urinate on the wedding rings. Upon following the conjurer’s instructions, the young man became possessed, because wedding rings are holy. The elder also gave other, similar examples of careless and irreverent people being abandoned by divine grace and becoming possessed. He didn’t think it was right to refer to the holy fathers of the Church simply by their first names; for example, as “Basil” or “Gregory.” “We talk about ‘Father So-and-so’ and say ‘Father’ to monks and clergy,” he commented, “and this is how we’re going to talk about the holy fathers?” He didn’t want people to offer God candles made from impure or artificial beeswax or to fill their lamps with olive oil of poor quality or with seed-oil. On the contrary, he emphasized, “[we should] offer our best to God in worship. We should offer up our best efforts and our pure prayer — not our yawning.” He considered it greatly irreverent to use prosphora for the liturgy that was tainted with mold. “Christ gives us His Body and Blood,” he would say, “and we give Him moldy prosphora?” He would walk miles to find prosphora for the Divine Liturgy, and when he carried it he would hold it by the side, taking care not to touch the seal. The elder tried to show gratitude and be pleasing to the One whom he loved. Out of his great love, he offered to God the very best, and he conducted himself with refinement, with spiritual sensitivity and reverence. And God, being pleased, bestowed His grace on the elder in abundance. Excerpt from Elder Paisios of Mount Athos by Hieromonk Isaac. NOTES: 56. “Reverence,” in Greek evlavia; and “piety,” evsevia. The latter word is used in the Greek of the Scriptures and Church Fathers to refer to Christian reverence and correct faith; and, especially in older translations, it has often been rendered as “piety.” By the elder’s time, the Greek word had taken on a negative meaning in a somewhat similar fashion as the word “piety” has come to do in English; to many, it was synonymous with pietism and formalism. — eds. 57. Most likely these signs were not commands — rather, he was presented with the possibility of becoming a priest. When he was asked about this, he answered, “Christ gives us gifts. Do we have to accept all of them?” 58. Prov. 2:8. 59. That is, to study it frequently. [The Evergetinos is a collection of anecdotes and teachings from the early Egyptian desert fathers. Unlike the Philokalia, a more advanced spiritual text that treats the way in which "the intellect [nous] is purified, illumined, and made perfect” (vol. 1, p. 13), the Evergetinos focuses on the practice of Christian virtues, a necessary precursor to the exalted attainments described in the Philokalia. — eds.]
